2016 Roundup: Best Camera Drones Under $1500

3D Robotics Solo

What we like:

What we don't:

No collision avoidance

The 3D Robotics Solo ($499, camera not included) is designed to compete with the Phantom 3, but instead of merely trying to match the Phantom 3, 3DR took it up a few notches.

The Solo's performance is impressive. With a maximum range of 10km (YES... 10km!), and a top speed of 55mph, filming action sequences or even car chases is not a problem for the Solo. In fact, when 3D Robotics took the drone to the set of 13 Hours to demo it for Michael Bay, it did so well that he immediately put it on the shoot schedule, and shots taken with the Solo ended up in the final cut of the film (including some VFX shots… quite impressive).

One of the Solo's best attributes is the ability to use it with different cameras. The standard camera is the GoPro, but there are several other options available. For example, the company offers a FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) camera that can help with surveys and surveillance. There's also the Kodak PixPro 360’ 4K VR camera (with mount) that will let you shoot virtual reality with full 360-degree video or stills.

One of the Solo's best attributes is the ability to use it with different cameras.

Then there's the Ribcage Air Cam, which allows you to modify your GoPro to hold several different lenses, including a telephoto. Since GoPro is a relatively standardized camera, even broadcast and cable networks will allow its use. Also, the Sony UMC-R10C, a modified version of the company's innovative XQ1camera, can be mounted, giving large sensor imaging capabilities to the drone. (It's worth noting, though, that this last option takes the total cost well beyond the $1500 price category - but it is an option.)

The Solo also has various pre-choreographed flight paths for shots that can be a challenge even to expert fliers, including selfie/reveal, cable-cam, orbit, follow, zipline, and pano (shooting overlapped pictures for panoramic stitching into rectilinear or spherical standards).

The only thing this aircraft is missing is a collision avoidance system.

The Solo ranges from a 15-minute to 20-minute flight time (depending on the camera it carries), and batteries cost a very reasonable $49.

Comments

DJI pretty much owns the market. Their latest two drones have no analogue from any of the competitors. I wonder why do we even have a round up anymore. Anyone considering anything but DJI is spitting against the wind.

I have a 3DR Solo. I can assure you that the range is not 10km. It is barely a full 1km using stock antenna in perfect conditions. With aftermarket antenna modification using an amplifier is around 4km in optimal perfect conditions. Un amplified antenna modification will put it at around 2.5-3km LOS and low humidity. The 55mph is only in expert mode which is not used for aerial recording. Also BestBuy has/had special for $299 that came with free 3 axis gimbal, extra battery and set of extra props. This is how I got mine. For the price and whole package you can't beat it.

Audronis, where did you get the 13 km info about the Mavic Pro?! This is false. DJI info writes 7 km and the maximum distance limit settable in its app (DJI GO 4) is 8000 m, with these data, the 13 km is obviously wrong.

Amazon has the Parrot Bebop 2 for $499 and it includes a Sky controller and glasses, quote: "This Bebop 2 FPV kits includes the new Parrot Skycontroller 2 and Cockpit glasses for captivating immersive flight experiences "

$89 a piece for a Mavic Pro battery with 27min. flight time and you still label with "Batteries seem a bit expensive"? You have got to be kidding me, 3 years ago in this hobby, getting 15minute flight times was only a dream.

I wonder if whoever wrote this roundup knows that 3D Robotics isn't making the Solo anymore, or consumer drones in general for that matter.... What's even more puzzling is how it got named "most versatile" when DJI drones outclass the now-defunct Solo in almost every regard.

Would have been nice to see a list of FOV and fisheye/rectilinear as I want rectilinear which is in the minority. It tends to be hard to find info on such parameters even on the manufacturers' websites. AFAIK Phantom 3 advanced and pro have somewhat rectilinear lenses, how about Mavic Pro and 4/pro? Any others?

The Mavic Pro has a 28mm (35m equivalent) FOV lens whereas the Phantom 4 Pro has a 24mm (35mm equivalent) FOV lens; both of which are rectilinear.

But the FP 4 Pro has the much larger sensor and thus better low noise photos/videos.

it's also important to note that both of these are variable focus lenses as well (i.e. you have to press the focus button or tap the screen to focus on something). most other drones in this class are set for infinity focus only.

Thanks for posting! Actually, this wasn't meant to be an in-depth review of each product, but a round-up of some of the most common models with an overview of each. It's similar to our camera round-ups. However, stay tuned for more in-depth analysis of drones in the future!

I got the Autel XSP in November and am blown away by the video quality. They have local US support (sales off here in Seattle area offers 1 hour hands-on training). Great build quality, great controller, excellent smartphone app. I love this drone. It's opened up a whole new aspect to my photography hobby.

I REALLY wanted a Mavic but I'm not patient enough for the ridiculous wait time. I went with the X-Star Premium. No regrets. It exceeds my expectations and yes it looks a lot like a Phantom...so what? Cameras, cars, guitars, you name it. Lot's of products look similar. I definitely like the controller btw. Feels good in the hand and it's well thought out.

They announced a camera upgrade at CES in January. It will be a 20MP 1" sensor but non zoom lens Should be available in March. Price will be around $300 I'd guess. Easy upgrade too - snaps on in place of the stock camera. Thet also have a FLIR/Visible "duo" camera coming too - but probably $1K for that one.

They have a beta of the iOS app available too if you want to test it. Here's the info:

"send an email to iOS@autelrobotics.com with the subject line "iOS Beta app 1.4.18: YOUR EMAIL" Please use the email that you registered as apple ID, and we'll send you instructions on how to access the App."

With any product, "a product is only as good as it's company's support." And, I have to say the DJI's customer support is continuing to bring itself down. There's too many reports/posts of people fed up with DJI. They've become "too big for their 'britches.' " If anyone's done their homework, the latest and greatest (for the money) is Autel's X-Star Premium. Their customer support is terrific. They aim to please. Plus, they have a great product. Even better, their pricing is a great value. Don't just take my word for it, read customer reviews. With CES 2017 coming soon, there should be some updates and new products to satisfy anyone in the drone/UAV/RPA market.

I have to agree re DJI's customer service. As for the Mavic, assuming you can get one without paying a high premium on eBay, just rear the forums about the many anoyed people who are still waiting for theirs to be delivered

Excellent primer on the capabilities and characteristics to look for (at least for a new-to-drones photographer like me). I'm assuming there will be more drones with 1" sensors in the not-to-distant future, which makes things very interesting for a skills photographer. Thanks, and lets have more on these platforms, including in-depth reviews.

ROFL.. DPreview.. you really had me, right until "Most versatile: 3D Robotics Solo"a virtually defunct product thats simply a non starter. on third you need to put either P3p, Autel xStar or Yuneec H. I would personally go with the xStar as its got better camera than the P4. but are not as sophisticated in terms of flying..

Bo doesn't realize the leading edge 3D offered last year! Accident avoidance in Phantom is nice, but a good pilot doesn't need it. Too bad 3D Robotics is leaving this market sector, but it IS the best bargain on the market today. Drones will change, but also become more FAA controlled. Stability and programmed modes of Solo are as good as any competitor; solid machine and open source programming is an advantage. GoPro 4K is a great camera with this platform.

I fly a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Pro (and the wait for delivery was pretty desperate).

DJI rules the market between $500 to $4000, in stability, feature, performance AND value for money. All the alternatives such as Yuneec or Parrot suffer from critical stability or performance issues.

We have a small group of RC fans. Several observations from my trials and others':- 6 motors do not guarantee flight stability nor redundancy. Yes I am looking at you, Typhoon. This thing can NOT come back with 5 rotors. In fact, it barely lifts itself with all the 6 rotors, and flies poorly against gusts of wind .- Intel's real-sense camera module is a joke on drones. Don't trust it. The underlying mechanism (IR structured lighting) is inherently myopic in day light. And there is a clear lack of co-development between Intel and Yuneec resulting in unnecessary dead weight, which worsens the already poor operability of Typhoon. My friend almost got hurt when demonstrating the feature against himself.

phantom 3/4K and Mavic owner. I really want to caution ppl about the 3RD Solo. This thing had a lot of promise in development, but under-delivered. with very buggy flight control system, gimbal issues, and non-competitive price point. Unfortunately GoPro seems to be repeating 3D Robotics mistakes: rushing development and over-promising. You should also know that 3DR is apparently in major financial crisis:

Anyone looking to dip the toe into aerial photography/videography should take advantage of the deals on DJI phantom 3 pro and even phantom 4 now (CL and Kijiji esp!). For me, the Mavic is everything I wanted in a drone.. compact, solid subject tracking features, huge range, decent cam.. perfect for travel.

Best of all... it fits in my camera bag, along with my a6000, 16-70 zeiss, extra prime lens, RC, accessories and space for more.

Originally got it for a recent trip to Europe. Wanted something that did the job (rugged, waterproof rain cover, well padded, not too big or heavy) but also didn't look too much like a camera bag (heard too many horror stories about thieves, esp Paris and Spain). I like it a lot! Note, however, that accents are not leather but PU.. not a deal breaker in the end.. everything that matters is well designed and constructed (I even rigged it so I can hang my vanguard monopod underneath).

Would you mind commmenting on the video quality of the Phantom compared to the Mavic? The samples I have seen (on YouTube) comparing these two drones leads me to think the Mavic is not quite as good as the Phantom in terms of overall image quality. I understand the cameras in the Phantom 4 and Mavic are supposed to be the same, so are the differences I see the result of how the files were edited? Thanks.

I liked the aspect ratio of the mavic better.. it has a narrower field than the P3 and 4. Just enough without losing the wide angle potential. Also I like the better depth of field on the mavic. Color, contrast and sharpness also seem to be handled better, natively, by the mavic in my opinion.

I have seen video comparisons of the P4 and mavic.. the latter does have more artifacts, but I don't know if this is a deal breaker. It is not too noticeable and after post and compression for say streaming video footage is very good for such a compact system. Trust me, lug around a big azz backpack with a phantom and compare it to a mavic that's basically a conceal-carry and suddenly aerial photography isn't a huge production.. think heavy DSLR vs mirrorless with pancake or a good point and shoot.

Full disclosure!!! I had to RMA my mavic due to a decentered lens and just got it back (untested yet). I believe in this product and took a chance as an early adopter.. if anyone is worried about technical issues, I recommend waiting till everything is ironed out. Overall, giving my flight experience with mavic, it is WAAAAAY more mature technologically.. production and quality control just needs to catch up, which I believe DJI will make happen. My customer service experience has been overall prompt and professional with only minor hiccups..

No drone is silent. Any audio will be dominated by the drone of the drone itself. Digital noise cancellation would entail elimination of nearly all the sound capture. Any flyovers you see with sonorous waterfalls or bird calls are synthetic creations. Some drones record no audio whatever, and the loss is negligible.

Thanks for the very useful roundup. I've been toying with the idea as they are often on promotion here in Thailand but I never got around to building a feature comparison to know if the promotions are a good deal or just clearance of older generations with older features.

One negative comment for the roundup is the lack of consistency in highlighting important specs, for example, unless I still missed it after reading it twice, I don't see any specs for the range of the DJI Phantom 4 models.

Generally, you can expect similar range to the Mavic (over 16 Km). However, that's controller range (not video). Video range (as it's based on the Lightbridge) varies greatly based on weather conditions, and EM interferance. I'd expect 1Km - 4Km of (realisticaly usable) video. The Mavic seems to have a better video transmission system. (Lightbridge can have glitches and stutters at times.)

Around mountains, far from cities, I have reached more than 6 km, with perfect video signal, so it is possible to go more far. However I stopped there about 2 or 3 minutes for my photographic mission, to take many pictures (as on a sky tripod). Then during the RTH, I was forced to land about 1km from the Home Point (the take off point), due to the low level battery, it was impossible to do the landing at the take off point. After the landing the remaining power was down to 5% or less and it was 100% at the take off moment.

If I lived outside the 5-mile radius of my town's small airport, I'd already have a Phantom 3 advanced. Now I want a Mavic, but I don't know where I'd be able to fly it. Sad panda. Still, what a wonderful collection of drones for not all that much money.

The DJI models will issue an airport proximity warning, when activated, provided the airport has a registered GPS location. For iny "toy" devices, the assumption is that they cannot be flown beyond a modest distance.

I live at 4 3/4 miles and 1 1/2 mile off the runway centerline. That doesn't stop me from going out in the front yard and flying my helos and quadcopter around between the roof tops. You've got to begin somewhere.

This coming from a multicopter copter hobbies that has been flying for over 10yrs..Nowhere on DJI'S website are calling there copters drones .. Even the military stopped calling them drones they are now called UAV'S.... I find it rather amusing ....

You're correct that in the industry, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) is the more accepted term. However, most people know them as drones. If we replaced 'drone' with 'UAV' in the title many people wouldn't know what we were referring to. It's something we aim to educate people about in upcoming articles.

However, it's worth noting that even in the industry the word drone is still used for events and conventions. In fact, I'm staring at a pen from InterDrone 2016 that's sitting on my desk right now.

You are correct sir. And actually, the correct term for anything under 50lbs is sUAS. "Drone" was a bad word in the professional market for a very long time (because concurrently "drone strikes" were being protested). It struck fear of surveillance and death into the public's heart. I once spoke at the Academy of Motion Pictures and even stopped myself when I said, "drone" and followed it with "good lord, I hate that term." However, as it's so commonplace now; I've come to accept it. Most people aren't going to Google (which sUAS, or which UAV).

Aroart: I believe you are correct that before the Parrot AR Drone, everyone called them "multicopters."

Just to add more confusion some authorities/countries like to call them RPAs (Remotely Piloted Aircraft). But at least the Aussies have more sensible rules than many other English speaking countries. Sigh.

I would be a happy camper if we abolish the term DRONE AND MIRRORLESS ... lets call them AIRDROIDS, AND FUCAMS.... I would love one day to drive my horseless wagon to a beautiful location and mount an awesome Fucam on my Airdroid to create some epic film on my digital devices....

Correct Luke. It's not a great buy for the price. But as a matter of versatility, it's the only drone in this class capable of this. Plus, you wouldn't want to fly an S900 or M600 through a house and out the other side, but you could with the Solo. (Not saying I would... I use Phantoms for those shots), but you could...

I just decided to spend the stash of cash I had scraped together for Oly OM-D E-M1 Mk2 on a Mavic Pro instead. It seems to offer great value for money and it should be tons of fun on hiking & skiing trips (until I crash it). Plus I can finally take my fight against the local pigeons on their own turf.

"Drones under $1500" is a pretty wide swath. Amazon lists the Bebop 2, including the controller, for under $550. It would be nice if the review included a side-by-side comparison of prices and specs, as well as some Seattle video clips all shot under similar conditions. A key test should be the survival rate, or repair cost, associated with power failure or a collision. Hardly any gimbal will survive a 20' fall onto hard earth, even if the "legs" touch first. The 2017 versions should have an mini air bag, not unlike the big ones used by mars landers, to diminish the shock of any fall.

Any 2017 device worth the money will have to be foldable, and also need a follow-me and orbit modes with some element of collision avoidance. The promotional ads make this addictive effect appear easy. Except in a bare field, it is not.

This article is part of our roundup series, similar to our other camera roundups. It's not meant to provide an in-depth review of each product, but rather an overview of products within a defined category. It follows the same format as all our other roundups. However, stay tuned for more in-depth articles on products like this.

Regarding prices: we always show the manufacturer's list price for a product. Of course, you may be able to find it for less. (Especially during the holiday season.)

Brace yourself John, because (as Dale Says) you will probably get exactly this kind of review later on these products (individually). Unfortunately (and quite literally) a book can be written on this topic if it were seriously in-depth on each model. This was a high-level overview (roundup). But I do hope I get the chance to do some "shootouts" and "side by sides" (two models at a time) at a future date.

It is possible the writer of this article has never owned the Yuneec Typhoon H.1/ never had a flyaway2/very stable in flight3/Expensive batteries $95.00??? DJI OVER $1204/Updates November fixed any issues that some people had.Most problems are user error RTFM Read The F**k** Manual.The P3 is for people who do not want a more complex platform with more user input and much more to learn.5/I have flown on 5 rotors with no problems6/NOT A VERY RELIABLE REVIEW SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE AFTER THE UPDATES.I OWNED A PHANTOM 3 and sold it as not stable in wind, and those darn landing gear get in the way ACTUALLY NOT A GREAT DRONE ONLY GOOD.The H is doing everything i want it to that the P3 cant

Getting very heavy winds today here on the Gold Coast so have just flown and VERY VERY STABLE.In answer to LukeDUCIEL

6 motors do not guarantee flight stability nor redundancy. Yes I am looking at you, Typhoon. This thing can NOT come back with 5 rotors. In fact, it barely lifts itself with all the 6 rotors, and flies poorly against gusts of wind . unnecessary dead weight, which worsens the already poor operability of Typhoon. Your friend should learn with the simulator how to fly this UAV, its not a toy and you need a fare bit of knowledge to fly this drone, also the comment that it fairly lifts its self is a joke this drone if quicker to 50 metres that my old P3.

Soccer, I'm very glad that you are happy with your purchase of the typhoon h. However, I do know of fly aways that have happened post-update. It is truly all about getting the right tool for the job and the pilot. If the typhoon is doing it for you... more power to ya.

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